Showing 1 - 10 of 42
Guru's Weekly Buzz: March 13-19
Guru, Published on 13/03/2026
» Guru By Bangkok Post's weekly pick of the most exciting products, activities, food and travel to indulge in.
Preparing for AI-enabled bioweapons
Oped, Published on 11/03/2026
» We don't know when the next epidemic or pandemic will hit, or where the next infectious threat will emerge. But we do know that the nature of the threat is constantly evolving. One of the most sobering takeaways from this year's Munich Security Conference was that AI-enabled gene editing has radically lowered the barrier to developing genetically engineered bioweapons. We must prepare to live with even deeper uncertainty about whether emerging infectious threats are natural or man-made, and whether they have been accidentally or deliberately released.
It's never been more important to strengthen ties
Oped, Published on 09/03/2026
» Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) face a defining moment. Intensifying great-power competition, climate crises and economic fragmentation are reshaping the Indo-Pacific, raising urgent questions about how the two sides can build a truly resilient partnership.
Rethinking global health finance
Oped, Published on 06/02/2026
» For the past half-century, the economics of global health were straightforward. Under the so-called "grant-based" approach, rich countries donate to poor countries, which use the funds to meet their populations' health needs. Success was measured by services provided or lives saved, rather than by balance sheets. While this model was far from perfect, the latest approach replacing it -- focused on using tools like guarantees and blended finance to crowd in private capital -- threatens to produce even worse outcomes.
Vietnam targets $5.5bn in foreign loans for 2026 to boost infrastructure development
Published on 16/01/2026
» HANOI - Vietnam plans to secure $5.5 billion (172.5 billion baht) in foreign loans in 2026 as it seeks to speed up the construction of large-scale national infrastructure projects and tackle persistent bottlenecks in the disbursement of development finance, its government said on Friday.
Shoring up Asean unity
News, Karnjana Karnjanatawe, Published on 07/11/2025
» As China's regional influence continues to expand, Japan faces the challenge of balancing strategic priorities within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Amid concerns over weakening regional unity and the United States' declining engagement, Tokyo seeks to strengthen partnerships with key nations while maintaining relations with all member states.
Rethinking finance beyond aid
Oped, Published on 06/11/2025
» Traditional donors have sharply scaled back their aid commitments to developing countries over the past year. Some, like the United States, have virtually eliminated their aid programmes. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), official development assistance (ODA) from member countries declined by 7.1% in 2024, its first annual drop in six years.
Taking stock of nation's climate finance
Oped, Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Published on 17/07/2025
» If the ravages of extreme weather worldwide were not enough to convince anyone of the need to urgently address and adapt to climate change, consider a sobering fact delivered by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Time to invest more in women
Oped, Published on 07/07/2025
» The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, which ended on Thursday, has taken place at a time of escalating debt crises, rising poverty, declining food security and proliferating climate-related damage. These crises are all exacerbated by deep reductions in official development assistance (ODA), and they all disproportionately affect women and girls, especially in developing countries.
Foreign aid, the powerful US soft power, is gone
Oped, Jeffrey Frankel, Published on 23/05/2025
» 'Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." When Joni Mitchell sang that line in 1970, she was lamenting the destruction of the environment, but the sentiment applies to many issues. Today, we can add official development assistance (ODA) to the list.